The present invention comprises a new and distinct cultivar of geranium, botanically known as Pelargonium peltatum, and hereinafter referred to by the cultivar name xe2x80x98Fisrimbaxe2x80x99.
xe2x80x98Fisrimbaxe2x80x99 is a product of a planned breeding program which had the objective of creating new geranium cultivars with pink to dark pink flower color, moderately vigorous growth, and bushy and well-branched plant habit xe2x80x98Fisrimbaxe2x80x99 originated from a hybridization made by the inventor Angelika Utecht in a controlled breeding program in Galdar, Gran Canaria, Spain, in 1996.
The female parent was a hybrid seedling, no. 1793-13 (unpatented), characterized by red, single-type flowers, medium green foliage with weak zonation, and medium growth habit. The male parent of xe2x80x98Fisrimbaxe2x80x99 was xe2x80x98Fisbernoxe2x80x99, U.S. plant Pat. No. 10,367, having light salmon-red, double flowers, slightly zoned foliage, and very well branched plant habit.
xe2x80x98Fisrimbaxe2x80x99 was selected as one flowering plant within the progeny of the stated cross by Angelika Utecht in 1997 in a controlled environment in Galdar, Gran Canaria, Spain. The first act of asexual reproduction of xe2x80x98Fisrimbaxe2x80x99 was accomplished when vegetative cuttings were taken from the initial selection in the fall of 1997 in a controlled environment in Galdar, Gran Canaria, Spain, by, or under the supervision of, Angelika Utecht.
Horticultural examination of plants grown from cuttings of this clone initiated in May 1998 in Hillscheid, Germany, and continuing thereafter, has demonstrated that the combination of characteristics as herein disclosed for xe2x80x98Fisrimbaxe2x80x99 are firmly fixed and are retained through successive generations of asexual reproduction.
xe2x80x98Fisrimbaxe2x80x99 has not been observed under all possible environmental conditions. The phenotype may vary significantly with variations in environment such as temperature, light intensity and day length.
The following observations, measurements, and comparisions describe plants grown in Hillscheid, Germany, and in Langley, British Columbia, Canada, under greenhouse conditions which approximate those generally used in commercial practice.
The following traits have been repeatedly observed and are determined to be basic characteristics of xe2x80x98Fisrimbaxe2x80x99, which in combination distinguish this geranium as a new and distinct cultivar:
1. Large, intense pink to cherry red colored, double flowers;
2. Semi-spherically shaped inflorescences;
3. Medium green foliage with weak zonation;
4. Vigorous growth and well-branched, bushy plant habit; and
5. Early to medium spring flowering response.
Of the many commercial cultivars known to the present inventor, the most similar in comparision to xe2x80x98Fisrimbaxe2x80x99 are the varieties xe2x80x98Fislamdaxe2x80x99, U.S. Plant patent application Ser. No. 09/323,109 and xe2x80x98Fismolixe2x80x99, disclosed in U.S. Plant Pat. No. 9,382.
In comparison to xe2x80x98Fislamdaxe2x80x99 and xe2x80x98Fismolixe2x80x99, xe2x80x98Fisrimbaxe2x80x99 is intermediate in many respects: its flower color is a more intense pink than xe2x80x98Fismolixe2x80x99, but a less bluish or purple tone than xe2x80x98Fislamdaxe2x80x99. Furthermore, xe2x80x98Fisrimbaxe2x80x99 grows more vigorously than xe2x80x98Fislamdaxe2x80x99, but its plant habit is bushier and rounder, not quite as long trailing as that of xe2x80x98Fismolixe2x80x99.